Terrifying Tales: Mary Shaw and Her Dolls

The poem above was shared in
a film entitled, Dead Silence. This
poem is based upon an old ghost story that was told in Ravens Fair for
generations.

It was told to children to
keep them in line but some claim that there is some truth to the story.
Regardless, it has evolved into a terrifying tale to tell at Halloween.

Is the curse that Mary Shaw
placed real?

Outside of Ravens Fair there
is an old theatre—the Guignol—that sits near Lost Lake. It was 1941 and Mary
Shaw was performing her ventriloquist show on stage.

A boy in the audience, Michael
Ashen made fun of Mary. He called her a fraud and stated he could see her lips
moving as the dummy talked. The audience then laughed.

Several weeks later Michael
went missing. The townspeople and the Ashen family became convinced that Mary
had something to do with his disappearance.

A group of men, made up of
members of the family and some locals, challenged Mary one night. What had she
done with Michael?

She screamed her innocence
when they would not believe her claims that she had nothing to do with it. They
grabbed her, cut out her tongue and left her to bleed to death.

The local mortician noticed
Mary had several odd requests in her will but he followed them anyway. She
requested her dolls, which she called “her children” should be buried with her
and she stipulated her body was to be made up to look like a doll.

Several days after Mary was
buried the killings began.

Each man who was involved in
her murder was visited by one of the dolls. They were found dead with their tongues
ripped out.

Mary’s ghost then began to
visit the wives and children of these men. As the years passed their children’s
children were visited. All were found in mid scream with their tongues ripped
out—dead.

The residents of Ravens Fair
still refuse to utter Mary Shaw’s name. For they are terrified Mary and “her
children” are waiting in their grave for the next victim.

This begins a series of
stories on Seeks Ghosts under the title Terrifying Tales that will be shared
between now and Halloween.